


Christmas Eve

by prosaicwonder



Category: Beyblade, ベイブレードバースト | Beyblade Burst (Anime)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Christmas, Christmas Eve, Fluff, Implied Relationships, M/M, One Shot, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 12:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8979250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosaicwonder/pseuds/prosaicwonder
Summary: Eight bladers have a Christmas Eve party at Wakiya’s villa.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fluffy and silly one-shot to end off the year. ; v ;

It was a mid-afternoon on a chilly winter’s day. Snow drifted gently down from the heavens, coating the ground in thick patches of white and muted blue-grey. The setting was tranquil - deserted, even - with no birds or animals in sight. In the soft greyness of the fog-covered horizon, there were forest trees which looked like dark inkblots in the distance, and in the foreground there was something most unusual: an extravagant decorated building which stood in the middle of it all.

 

Despite the time of the day, several of the rooms’ lights had been left on, and the bright golden glow contrasted against the stark white landscape like glittery golden decorations. The exterior of the building had also been adorned with various brightly-coloured Christmas decorations: the most notable one had been the gigantic red-and-green wreath which hung welcomingly in the centre of the front door. It was round, with lush evergreen boughs and shiny red-and-gold baubles that decorated its surface; however, in the middle was the shape of a Beyblade. If someone had to stand in front of it and inspect it properly, they would be able to see the mysterious winged-helmeted figure in the centre.

 

Not much had changed outside. It had been a peaceful setting; perhaps it was a day of rest and relaxation-

 

“Oiiiii-!! Kumicho-!! Give that here!”

 

Or perhaps, it was not.

 

* * *

 

“I can hear you perfectly fine, Valt. Why do you always have to shout…” the tall blonde known as Kumicho grumbled. He and a few other boys around his age were gathered in one of the many spacious rooms of the large villa. Next to him was a tall Christmas tree, its wiry artificial boughs bare and untouched. He was also holding a single plastic candy cane, which had a small loop of golden string on the top.

 

They were busy decorating the tree, or at least attempting to do so, before the big party that evening. They had met up in Beigoma City in the morning and took the high-speed train to get to where they were now. It had been… interesting, to say the least: the trip had been particularly bumpy today, for some odd reason. Perhaps the driver was still a trainee, because every now and then the boys had heard the ominous squeaking of brakes against the rails, and more than one of the group members had ended up on their rear shortly after these events. Nevertheless, they had arrived safely at the villa, and after they had all chosen the rooms they wanted to stay in, they had unpacked their belongings and went back downstairs to set up the decorations in preparation for the party.

 

“You were yelling at me just a moment ago!” the other boy – Valt – retorted. Next to the blonde affectionately known as “The Boss”, he was laughably small in comparison. He was also standing next to the Christmas tree, and in his dominant hand was a piece of shiny silver tinsel. He, like Kumicho, had been dressed in his normal attire; however, today his bright blue hair was partially covered by a red-and-white Santa hat.

 

“I’m not as loud as you!” Kumicho fired back.

 

“Oh yeah? At least I’m faster at getting this done!”

“Nuh-uh, I’m the fastest one in this room!”

“No, I am!”

 

“Grrrr…” Both boys stood glaring menacingly at each other. The other boys in the room could just see the illusory sparks that flickered in between their faces. A few of them let out a collective sigh at that.

 

“Those two… do they even realise that they’ve both gotten nothing done this whole time?” Daina murmured to the other blonde boy next to him, gesturing subtly at the bare Christmas tree.

 

“I highly doubt it. They’re both idiots, after all.” The blonde – Wakiya – replied haughtily, before letting out a snicker. He and Daina were seated on the nearby sofa, each holding a mug of hot tea in their hands as they watched the scene in front of them. Seated next to them was Kensuke, who had forgone wearing Ker and Beus in favour of using both hands to work meticulously with a piece of brown clay, which he was currently rolling into a ball. Next to him was another shorter boy, who was glowering at an odd misshapen lump in his hands, letting out the occasional growl as he prodded and squished at it.

 

“Do you need help, Ben?” Kensuke asked him as he stopped his own work, the perfectly-round ball of clay still held in both of his hands. Ben pouted and did not respond: his own way of affirming the question.

 

“Pass it here.” Kensuke said, scooting closer to the shorter boy. “Do you want to make something in particular?” He looked at Ben questioningly, his emerald green eyes glimmering faintly from the light in the room.

 

“Yeah.” the other boy replied. Succinct as usual; it made Kensuke chuckle slightly. As Ben passed the unfortunate-looking clay lump, the tips of their fingers had met briefly: it was brief and feather-light but both had felt it. However, neither of them flinched at the touch.

 

“U-um, look! Here’s one I made earlier…” Kensuke stuttered as a faint pink blush appeared over the bridge of his nose. He giggled nervously before quickly retracting his hand to grab at the delicate clay ornament on his lap, which was lying on top of Ker and Beus. It was a gingerbread man, or – more specifically – a gingerbread _boy_ , with stubby little arms and legs and a spiky Mohican hairstyle.

 

Ben’s eyes widened upon looking at the little replica of himself. It was perfectly made, and all of the details in his own features had been there. There was even a tiny bandage mark under the clay Ben’s left eye.

 

“Me…?” Ben asked in wonder. Gingerly, he reached a hand out towards the little ornament, tracing over its clay surface gently before curling the rest of his fingers around it. After several seconds of staring, the Beast captain’s expression finally broke into a wide grin.

 

“Ohhh!” Ben exclaimed, his usually-narrow eyes widened in childlike delight. Kensuke couldn’t help but smile, too. The other boy had always been so easy to read, despite not being the most talkative person Kensuke knew. Ben wasn’t the type to hide his own feelings; if something made him happy or upset, he’d make it known immediately. It was one of the things the ventriloquist admired about him.

 

“It was nice of Wakiya to let us come today, wasn’t it?” Kensuke asked quietly, a faint smile gracing his face.

 

“Yeah.” Ben replied.

 

“To be honest, I do miss the Bey Club sometimes,” Kensuke confessed, before reaching over to grab another piece of clay from the coffee table in front of him. He began rolling the doughy ball into another perfectly-round sphere. “And I miss all of my friends from the club, too.”

 

The other boy did not respond, but Kensuke could still feel the gaze of those red-violet eyes pinned on his own form.

 

Ignoring the embarrassment, Kensuke continued. “Maybe it’s true though, that everything happens for a reason.” He paused briefly, before lifting his head and turning towards the Beasts captain. “After all, I wouldn’t have met you if I had stayed there.”

 

Seeing the other boy smiling so happily next to him caused an odd feeling to arise within Ben. He had come to terms with it only recently: that this feeling – whatever it was, he had no idea – was caused by Kensuke alone. Of course, the Beasts captain loved being around his team dearly, but until now, there had not been a single person who had truly understood him.

 

Ben was inwardly grateful that he was allowed to come with to the party. He hadn’t been very friendly towards the rest of the club members at first; back then, his protectiveness had gotten the better of him…

 

Before he knew it, there was a pair of white felt teeth nipping at his cheek.

 

“Chomp.” Kensuke grinned again as he pulled Ker away from Ben’s face. “Your face is red, Ben… should we start calling you Azuki _Bean_ now?” the brown puppet, Beus, teased.

 

“Ugh.” Ben groaned, burying his face in his hands and feeling hugely embarrassed for spacing out - after thinking about his best friend, too…

 

Kensuke let out a giggle before taking off the puppets again and returning to work with a new piece of clay. “Are you glad you came today?” he asked.

 

Ben allowed a small smile to grace his features as their eyes met once more.

 

“Yeah.”

 

* * *

 

In the kitchen, two more members of the group had been busy setting various plates, cutlery and food items on the counter.

 

“I’m glad you and everyone else could come to Master’s villa again, Shu.” Hoji said. He was standing nearby the stove, keeping his eye on a large pot which had been brought down to a simmer. “He won’t ever say this, but he’s often lonely at this time of the year…”

 

“I’m glad, too.” Shu replied as he watched his own saucepan of food as it sizzled on the stove top. “There has been a positive change in everyone since we became a team.”

 

They stood in silence for a while before Shu spoke again. “You probably know Komurasaki better than anyone else here, but out of everyone in the group, he has probably changed the most.”

 

Hoji nodded in agreement, watching as the other boy emptied the contents of the saucepan into a large bowl on the counter.

 

“Do you think you’ve changed, Shu?” Hoji suddenly asked, making Shu look up at him. There was a short pause before a smile formed on the other blader’s face.

 

“Definitely.”

 

* * *

 

Back in the main room, Valt and Kumicho had finally managed to finish decorating the tree; however, it was only after Daina and Wakiya joined them that they had actually gotten something done. It looked much more beautiful now, being adorned with glittery and colourful decorations of all shapes and sizes. Somehow, it felt like there was more of a Christmas spirit in the air too. It was a rather pleasant feeling.

 

Kensuke and Ben were completely engrossed in making little gingerbread clay figures of everyone: so far they had everyone who was at the villa at present, plus Valt’s mom and the twins, Xhaka and his team, the rest of Ben’s team and even little replicas of Ker and Beus. After they had finished working on all the figures, the two boys brought them over to the tree in batches, so that the others could start putting the final decorations on the tree. Soon, they had every single one up on the tree’s prickly boughs, and they just needed to add one more final touch.

 

“Here, Valt.” Daina said, offering the last decoration to the spiky blue-haired boy. A snort came from behind the black-haired boy.

 

“Seriously, Daina? You’re giving that to the shortest one here?” Wakiya asked rhetorically before letting out a dramatic sigh, making Valt whip his head around and glare up at him.

 

“I’ll show you that I can do it!” Valt said, his brown eyes flashing with determination as a wide grin plastered itself across his face.

 

“Oh dear…” Kensuke trailed off, pressing the flat of his palm against his forehead for effect. He had gone back to wearing the Ker and Beus puppets on each hand, since he had finished working on all the little gingerbread people. Ben looked up at him questioningly, with one eyebrow raised and a deep frown marking his face.

 

“Kumicho!” Valt suddenly yelled, startling everyone in the room and making the blonde focus his attention on the shorter boy. “Stand exactly where you are, and _don’t move_!”

 

Before Kumicho could even open his mouth to respond, Valt had launched himself forward. He held the plastic object tightly in his gloved fist as he used all his power to leap up onto Kumicho’s shoulders, making him squawk loudly in shocked surprise. It had all happened in a blur; the next thing Kumicho knew was that there was a sharp pain on one side of his face, which also felt cold from being pressed against the wooden tiled floor.

 

By some miracle, they had narrowly avoided knocking the Christmas tree over, too.

 

“Told you I’d be able to do it,” Valt said with a weak grin, giving the others a thumbs-up. He turned his gaze towards the now-completed Christmas tree. “See?”

 

The other boys turned to look in the same direction. Along with the various decorations which had been strung around the branches earlier, there was also a single golden disk at the top of the tree, with the same knight figure printed on it as the one which was on the wreath on the front door.

 

“Doesn’t it look good?” Valt gushed happily, ignoring the fact that he was still lying in a heap on the floor, eliciting several collective groans from the others. “Valkyrie was definitely the best choice for the-”

 

“Would you mind getting off of me?!” Kumicho yelled in exasperation, the force of his voice causing the smaller boy to be blown off of him. Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing to cover their ears.

 

“Hey, what’s going on here?” A voice came from behind them. Everyone turned towards the source of the sound: standing a fair distance away was Hoji and Shu, who both wore matching expressions of confusion.

 

“That silly Valt jumped on Kumicho just so that he could put Valkyrie at the top of the tree,” the dark blue puppet known as Ker scoffed, crossing its stumpy arms across its form. The other puppet – Beus – nodded, before adding: “And then they both lost balance and fell, which is why they are both lying on the floor now!”

 

Hoji and Shu looked at each other before they turned to look at the two boys on the floor. “Are you hurt?” Hoji asked as he reached a hand out towards Kumicho, who shook his head and allowed himself to be pulled up. He sulked as he picked up his now-broken lollipop from the floor.

 

“That’s just like you, Valt.” Shu said, shaking his head before kneeling down to help the other boy get up. Valt groaned as he rolled over to lie on his back, raising a forearm to cover his eyes and not paying attention to the figure which hovered over him.

 

Shu suppressed a chuckle at that. “You okay?” he asked the shorter boy.

 

“U-um, yeah…” Valt mumbled as he sat up, holding out a hand so that he could be pulled upright. Shu took a hold of the outstretched hand and pulled Valt up so that they were standing next to each other. Wordlessly, they both watched the interaction between their other friends: Kumicho was laughing about something, the broken red-and-yellow lollipop in his hand temporarily forgotten; amazingly, Wakiya was laughing too, and even seemed to be holding a conversation with the other blonde; Hoji was laughing with them, and next to him was Kensuke and Ben, along with Daina; all three had been silently observing the group as well with bemused expressions on their faces.

 

Valt felt his hand was particularly warm; he looked down and inhaled sharply when he noticed that his fingers were still linked with Shu’s. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, though, but Valt wondered why the other boy hadn’t moved away yet. Did he perhaps not want to let go…?

 

He felt his cheeks flush at the thought. “Um… Shu…” he started, getting the other boy’s attention and making him look down at Valt questioningly. Valt briefly wished that a hole would appear in the ground so that he wouldn’t have to deal with this situation.

 

“Y-your hand…” he said, awkwardly looking away as he felt the heat spread across his entire face. Even his ears were burning.

 

Shu must’ve noticed how mortified he was: not at the way their hands were clasped together, but rather at the way he was stumbling over his words to the point where steam began to blow out of each of Valt’s ears.

 

“Oh, right… sorry.” he said as he loosened his grip on Valt’s gloved hand. Their hands were separated and hung limply at their sides, yet their fingers were still brushing; lingering.

 

Neither of the two boys noticed the pair of dark blue-grey eyes which had fixed upon them.

 

“Oi, Hoji,” Wakiya’s usual loud voice broke through the silence. “When’s the food comin’? We’re starving here! Get a move on will ya?” He let out a sigh as he dramatically gripped his stomach, pretending to fall down as some of the other boys laughed.

 

“S-sorry Master!” Hoji said, bowing his head in apology before turning towards the rest of the group. “Please give us another ten minutes at most.” he said, walking away as everyone cheered in response.

 

“That guy’s letting Wakiya boss him around again…” Kumicho scoffed, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes as Daina let out a soft laugh next to him. “Doesn’t he ever get tired of it?”

 

“I wonder…” Daina echoed, letting his eyes drift once more to the two boys he was watching just a moment ago. The gentle, yet intensely longing gaze the taller blader directed towards the spiky blue-haired boy as he made his way back to the kitchen could have been seen from a mile away. Unfortunately, the other boy didn’t seem to notice, as he was laughing at something else and looking in the other direction. It was pitiful, really.

 

Turning away from the sight, the owner of Deathscyther replied with a small smile: “Those who care a lot about someone will be willing to do anything for that person.”

 

A pause. “That so?” Kumicho replied. “I still think it’s not right for that guy to boss his own friends around.” He let out a huff before shoving both hands into the front of his trousers and slouching forward.

 

“Kumicho, it’s probably none of our business what they do anyway…” Daina said, trying his best to sound as tactful as possible. “Wakiya tends to say things in a roundabout way, after all.”

 

The blonde’s features relaxed as he stood next to the dark-haired boy. “Whatever, I guess you’re right.” he replied. “We should probably help those two in the kitchen with the food, huh?”

 

“Yeah.” Daina agreed before they both made their way to the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

After the various food items and eating utensils were brought to the large table in the living room, everyone sat down around it and began to have their meal. The boys had really gone all out on the preparation; Shu’s signature Spaghetti Carbonara and Napoletana pasta dishes were quickly being devoured by the others, Hoji had made some sort of meat-and-vegetable stew which was also being finished by the bowl. Valt’s mother had baked her famous Beyblade-shaped bread and sent it with her son in the morning; everyone had a golden brown, perfectly-replicated version of their own bey.

 

“Oh yeah, Wakiya said that he had something else planned after we finished eating.” Kumicho said before taking a bite out of his Ragnarok-shaped bread.

 

“I wonder what it is…” Kensuke trailed off, holding up a forkful of spaghetti in the air with his bare hand.

 

“He’s full of surprises, so it’s hard to tell…” Daina replied as he reached over to pick up his glass of water.

 

They continued to eat, chattering amicably amongst themselves. Ben - who had been seated next to Kensuke again - had not spoken a single word, preferring to dig into his plate of food with great enthusiasm. With every bite, he would make some sort of appreciative noise, making Kensuke giggle at the sight. Valt was sitting opposite Shu, with Hoji being seated next to the taller blader. Valt was talking animatedly as the other two listened and made the occasional reply. Every now and then, Shu would chide his best friend for talking with his mouth full, and Hoji would just smile politely before returning to finish his own meal.

 

A while later, everyone had finished eating their food and the dishes were taken to be washed in the kitchen. After the cleaning up was done, they were all instructed to gather around in their former training room. Excitedly chatting amongst themselves, the boys made their way to one of the many spacious rooms of the villa. Once they arrived, they had all gathered around something in the centre of the room.

 

“Actually, there’s somethin’ I wanna show you guys.” Wakiya announced, gesturing towards the mysterious object. It was covered by a plain white cloth, and seemed to be quite large and round in shape. The owner of Wyvern smirked before turning to look at the brunette next to him. “Hoji, will you do the honours?”

 

Hoji moved to pull off the long piece of cloth, exposing the mystery object for the rest of the group to see and eliciting a few gasps and wide-eyed stares from them.

 

“Ta-da!” Wakiya announced, the grin not leaving his features as he crossed his arms and looked at the rest of the group. The object was, in fact, large and round: it was in the shape of a normal bey dish; however, it was unusually pale blue and rocky in appearance. There even seemed to be some sort of mist over its surface, obscuring the centre of the object from view.

 

“What is it? What is it?” Valt asked eagerly. He bent down to take a closer look at the unusual object and reached out his hand to touch it; this proved to be a bad idea, however, as his fingertips had lost sensation instantly, making him quickly retract his hand and shove it into his pants pocket.

 

“Ahhh!” he exclaimed, his brown eyes wide with shock. The others looked at him in concern, worried that their friend had gotten himself hurt. Fortunately, this was not the case. “It’s so coooold-!!”

 

“Cold?!” Kumicho repeated, whipping his head around to look down at the mysterious object in front of them. “What _is_ this thing?”

 

“It’s a bey dish; however, it is made from a substance called Endless Ice.” Hoji explained. “The gimmick is that the ice is made from a material which ensures that it never melts.”

 

“What a stupid name…” Kumicho mumbled, earning a few muffled laughs and elbow jabs from the group. Some of the others moved closer to the dish to examine it more closely.

 

“I had it specially ordered from overseas,” Wakiya said proudly, knocking a fist against his chest for emphasis. “The ice will make things interestin’ – let’s see whose bey will last the longest!”

 

“I want to go first!” Valt exclaimed, shooting a hand up as he jumped up and down excitedly.

 

“Then I’ll battle you, Valt!” Kensuke said through the blue Ker puppet, making the other brown puppet nod next to Ker. “One-on-one!” Beus agreed.

 

The two boys stood facing each other behind the icy bey dish, with the other members of the group standing further behind and around them in a circle. They both moved to take their respective launching positions, before the group began the countdown:

 

“3! 2! 1! Go… Shoot!”

 

Everyone took turns battling each other during the night. The slippery surface of the icy bey dish had definitely added a new dimension of difficulty to the sport; luckily the boys had all seen it as a fun challenge. Their beys collided, one pair at a time; as the clock ticked away and the hours drifted past, they had become completely unaware of how late it had become. All that mattered was that they were all doing the thing they enjoyed most.

 

As Wakiya watched the next pair begin their match (this time it was Daina up against Ben), his thoughts drifted to the other members of the Beigoma Bey Club. There were a lot of things he didn’t say out loud, like how he felt a noticeable change in himself, and how truly, absolutely _grateful_ he was when the rest of the team found – and even saved – him when he was at his worst. He would never admit it, but he enjoyed having the others around. He could still remember the excited giddy feeling he had when he invited the other club members to go to his villa for the first time; the memories had stuck with him and was still one of the happiest moments of his life. It was the reason why the young master decided to invite them again, so that they could all make more memories together, and of course, Beyblade to their hearts’ content.

 

This time, Wakiya hadn’t invited the other boys himself; it was his idea to invite the members of the Bey Club, but he had asked – no, demanded - that Hoji to speak to everyone and tell them about the party.

 

Speaking of Hoji… Wakiya couldn’t help but let a sly smirk form across his lips. He moved a hand down to his pants pocket, trailing his fingers over the dark purple fabric before slipping his hand into to make sure that whatever he had inside was still there. He noted, in relief, that it was still sitting snugly inside his pocket. Satisfied, Wakiya drew his hand out and let it hang at his side. His ‘gift’ would have to wait until later…

 

* * *

 

By the time the group had finished their last match, the sun had set long ago. Outside the villa, the wintery grey landscape had been blackened by the night sky; however, the snow continued to fall gently onto the dark and snowy ground below. Above the horizon, countless stars were spread across the inky black sky like smatterings of sparkly silver glitter. In the distance was the moon, its silvery glow being the only source of light other than the lights which had been left on.

 

Spent from the long hours of Beyblading, most of the boys had retreated to their rooms for the night after wishing each other good night. Of course, Wakiya had the master bedroom all to himself, and he had gloated about it before saying goodnight to everyone. As he had ascended the staircase, Hoji followed behind him, shaking his head at his Master’s antics.

 

Suddenly, the blonde in front of him stopped, causing the brunette to nearly collide into his back and be sent rolling down the stairs. “M-Master?!”

 

“Hoji,” Wakiya started, his spiky blonde hair obscuring his face. His voice was oddly quiet; whenever he spoke like that (which was not often), it would always set Hoji on edge. The brunette gulped before responding: “Yes?”

 

“Come with me to my room. I… have something for you.” That tone was not getting any better; Hoji was really worried now…

 

“O-okay,” He said, and without any further conversation, the two of them ascended the rest of the staircase, disappearing from sight once they had finally reached the top.

 

There was only one more boy left standing in the now-empty Beyblade practice room. Gazing out the window at the gentle snowfall, the Beasts captain stood in silence as he thought about the events of the day. The other bladers had been incredibly kind towards him, and he felt as if some of that kindness had rubbed off on him: somehow, he felt like he gave off a less intimidating aura than usual.

 

And then, there was _Kensuke_ …

 

Ben shook his head. He wasn’t even sure why he was having thoughts like this. Perhaps he would ask about it later… no, that would be too weird.

 

Letting out a sign, Ben turned away from the window and made his way out of the empty room, switching off the light as he reached the door. He trudged up the staircase once he had gotten across the dark passageway, making his way up the seemingly endless steps. What he saw at the highest point of the staircase made him freeze in place; his eyes widened in unmasked shock as he realized what was there. It was eerily dark on that level of the villa, but Ben could make out two shadowy figures that faced each other, pressed against each other in an oddly close way and… was that an arm around the other figure’s waist? He could’ve also sworn that the larger figure had a hand wrapped around something which looked like a long ponytail…

 

A few moments later, the two figures dashed away from the staircase, leaving Ben standing alone on the last set of stairs. After making sure that they were not going to return, he trod carefully up each step, and before he ascended the final step, he noticed something at the top of the staircase. Cautiously, he leaned down to take a closer look; to his surprise, it was a set of oval leaves with several clusters of little white berries adorning it.

 

Mistletoe.

 

Who would’ve known that something like that would’ve been here?

 

* * *

 

In another part of the villa, Shu was sitting on one of the two beds in his bedroom, staring down at both hands folded in his lap as he remained deep in thought.

 

As he had told Hoji in the kitchen earlier, Shu could sense a change within himself since the time Valt had befriended Kumicho and the rest of the group. Before now, he would not have even agreed to attend parties like this one. Usually, the only thing he’d think about was Beyblade practice, and he’d go on ignoring everyone else around him – even Valt. It was surprising that the other boy had not left him for his new friends because of that. In a way, Valt brought him out of his shell - he was special.

 

He was also the only one who Shu would ever allow to hold his hand…

 

Shu blushed faintly at the thought. This wasn’t the first time they had done that: as children, they used to hold hands often. However, over the years, the occurrences gradually became less frequent, until it just stopped one day altogether. A part of him childishly wanted them to stick to the habit forever: it was an innocent gesture, a simple one that made him feel loved and wanted.

 

A soft knock came from the bedroom door, snapping him out of his thoughts. Shu got up and walked over, reaching out a hand to turn at the door knob. He wasn’t at all surprised when he saw Valt standing behind the door with a wide smile on his face. Shu smiled back and moved away from the door so that he could come in. Valt happily obliged, closing the door softly behind him.

 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Shu asked, earning a shake of the head from the other blader. “Thought I’d come here and do this before tomorrow.” Valt replied, looking around nervously before continuing.

 

“Actually, I have something for you, Shu…” He fidgeted with one of the strings of his red hoodie while looking away from his friend’s gaze. A nervous laugh, before he continued: “Call it an early Christmas present, if you like.”

 

Shu did not respond; instead, he waited patiently for his friend’s explanation.

 

“How do I do this…” Valt mumbled, feeling the heat spread across his cheeks. Oh, this was so embarrassing. He inhaled sharply, squeezing his eyes tightly shut and holding his breath for several seconds, before letting it out with new resolve.

 

“Shu! Give me your hand.” Valt said. A wide grin had spread across his features, along with the almost luminescent pink blush which decorated his cheeks. His smile was infectious; it made Shu’s eyes crinkle and the edges of his lips curve up into a smile of his own.

 

Shu lifted his gloved hand towards the other boy; however, Valt remained motionless. Shu blinked in confusion at that until Valt let out a soft laugh.

 

“No, not _that_ hand,” he said playfully, making Shu drop his hand back at his side. Valt looked up at him, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Your other hand. Close your eyes as well.”

 

Raising an eyebrow at the words, Shu obliged and lifted his left hand, also allowing his eyelids to flutter shut. He felt something brush across the back of his hand; it was slightly rough and stringy, and there was something… cold and metallic attached to it. He waited patiently for the other boy to finish whatever he was doing, noting that mysterious object was being wrapped around his wrist. Every now and then, Valt’s fingertips would brush softly against the skin of his hand; it felt slightly ticklish and warm: a pleasant feeling.

 

“You can open your eyes now,” Valt spoke, and he did exactly that. He blinked in surprise and his mouth formed a small ‘o’ upon seeing the object on his wrist.

 

“Valt…” Shu murmured. Wrapped around his wrist was some sort of bracelet, which comprised three differently-coloured strings knotted in a recurring pattern. The combination of black, white and red was the finishing touch to his usual attire, and on one end of the bracelet, there was a golden metallic disk which was roughly the size of a coin. Engraved on the disk were outlines which reminded Shu very much of his own Spriggan, especially since the letter ‘S’ had been etched in the very centre of the disk. It was perfect.

 

“I made it just before we left this morning.” Valt said, letting out a nervous giggle as he reached a hand to scratch at the back of his head. “See it as a good luck charm of some sort… mine seemed to really work for me, so I thought I’d make one for you too…”

 

“I’ll definitely treasure it,” Shu murmured, turning his head back to look at the other boy. “Thank you, Valt.” He brought the hand with the bracelet up, resting the palm of his hand against his heart. He gazed down, with eyelids partially covering his bright crimson eyes as he smiled tenderly down at the owner of Valkyrie.

 

 _This was it_ , Shu thought, as the hand over his chest slipped down to his side. The same hand was lifted up and gently grabbed a hold of Valt’s gloved one, lacing their fingers together as they had done earlier.  He leaned down to gaze at Valt once more, taking in all of his features: his wide-eyed look of confusion, with a hint of something else; the heated blush which had spread over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, and the way his lips were parted just slightly: inviting him to lean down and claim them with his own.

 

Somehow, the distinction between fantasy and reality was blurred, because the next thing Shu knew, was that he was doing _exactly_ that. However, he no longer cared as he took in the softness of Valt’s lips, the feeling of Valt’s smaller hand intertwined with his own... and then one of them had moved closer and there was lips and tongue and – oh _God_ , how did they both end up on top of the bed when they had just been standing up…?

 

Shu pried himself away from the other boy; somehow, they had fallen during the kiss and he had landed on top of Valt. He felt his cheeks heat up; why did he have to lose control like that?

 

He shifted his position so that he was still lying on top of the smaller boy; however, their faces were now further apart, and the long white strands of his bangs hung loosely downwards, over the sides of his face. As Shu caught his breath, he noticed the way Valt had been looking at him after the kiss was broken: his brown eyes were slightly closed, and a deeper red blush stained his complexion. His parted lips still had the faint taste of freshly-baked bread; it tasted like home.

 

They lay in silence for what felt like minutes, before Valt suddenly launched forward and wrapped his arms around the taller boy, pulling him down so that they were both pressed against each other. He giggled softly as the long strands of Shu’s hair tickled his face and neck.

 

“What?” Shu whispered, a tinge of bemusement in his voice. His head was buried in the crook of Valt’s neck, but the smaller blader could tell that Shu was smiling.

 

“Nothing. Your hair’s just tickling me, that’s all.” Valt murmured with a small grin, lifting a hand up to run his fingers through the silvery white locks of Shu’s hair. Wordlessly, they remained in the same position for another few minutes.

 

“I love you,” Valt murmured softly, with his warm breath ghosting across Shu’s ear, making him shiver slightly from the feeling. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his back in response, and blushed again when he heard Shu’s quiet response: “I love you too.”

 

He sounded almost shy: it was actually kind of cute, Valt thought.

 

Eventually, Shu moved to stand up after getting off the bed, and he held out his gloved hand towards Valt, who accepted and allowed himself to be pulled up into a sitting position.

 

“I don’t feel like going to sleep,” Valt said, making the other boy raise an eyebrow slightly.

 

“So then, what do you want to do?” Shu asked him.

 

“I’d say ‘Beyblade’, but it’s far too late for that now.” Valt replied with a grin, making the taller boy chuckle. Valt patted the empty spot on the bed next to him, and Shu shifted so that he was sitting next to the other boy. They were sitting with their backs propped up against the bed’s headboard, cuddling close to each other. Valt closed his eyes as he leaned his head on Shu’s shoulder; he then felt an arm slide across his back and hold him in place.

 

“Shu…” he mumbled sleepily, enjoying the feeling of being close to the other boy. “Hmm?” Shu replied.

 

“Merry Christmas… hope we all have a great one.”

 

“Same here… go to sleep if you’re tired.”

 

“But I don’t wanna~” Valt whined. He was, in actual fact, beginning to doze off; however, he didn’t feel like dragging himself across the passage to his own room, even though their rooms were practically next door to each other. Shu made a small amused noise at that before turning his head and planting a kiss on the other boy’s temple.

 

“Honestly, you’re impossible sometimes.” Shu told him, his usual serious voice carrying a hint of airiness to it. He brought his arm around so that it was no longer wrapped around Valt’s back, and he shifted so that both their arms were pressed together, and their hands and fingers were linked once again.

 

Valt giggled softly before replying teasingly, “I know. That’s why you love me.”

 

Shu couldn’t find any fault with that answer.

 

“You’re right about that…” he murmured fondly before allowing his crimson eyes to flutter shut, not letting go of Valt’s hand the entire time. Not long afterwards, Valt had fallen asleep, too.

 

The snow continued to drift down gently throughout the rest of the night.


End file.
